Summary: My Old True Love takes place in the Appalachian Mountains during the mid 1800’s. The story begins with the birth of a boy named Larkin. The narrator, Arty, raises Larkin as her own son after his mother dies in childbirth. Larkin grows up with his cousin (and brother of Arty) Hackley. The boys start out as good friends but from an early age it is clear that Hackley seeks to outdo Larkin (in music, attracting women, singing, etc.) and begins to succeed. Larkin does not really seem to mind until Hackley pursues the woman Larkin is in love with. Before this conflict can be resolved, the Civil War begins and the boys are drafted into the army. But the story is not just a Civil War drama or a rivalry between Larkin and Hackley. The dangers of childbirth, the reality of early marriage and caring for a number of children while still technically being a child oneself, and the fierce loyalty of family are just a few of the other topics featured in this novel. A ballad singer herself, Sheila Kay Adams writes a novel bearing resemblance to an extended ballad about love, passion, sacrifice, death and life. Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are extremely well-developed and complex while still being realistic and authentic to the time period and location of the novel. The plot and overall story is entertaining, and I honestly wish I had been given the opportunity to read this novel, or at least excerpts of it, in high school. It is engaging, informative (both for its historical value and for its comments on life and love), and most importantly, entertaining. Oh, and the main characters are all rather young, so I think it’d be interesting to read it from the perspective of a high school student who is the same age, if not older, than these characters who are already raising children and being drafted into a war. My Old True Love is a historical fiction novel that takes place around the time of the Civil War and provides detailed and informative accounts and family experiences during the war, such as the issue of desertion and shortage of food and labor. All of which I found to be fascinating, especially since the story takes place in western North Carolina and I am able to imagine the story unfolding around me here in the mountains. The characters Hackley, Larkin, and Arty are not only based on actual people, but are related to the author, Sheila Kay Adams. The fact that these people existed but were also crafted by Adams makes the story infinitely more intriguing to me.3 Questions:1.tConsider the following quote: “I can recall something that happened fifty, sixty years ago better than what happened just last week…Maybe it has something to do with what’s important to us, and what happens when you get old ain’t too important. Granny said it was because them early memories was stored in the uncluttered mind of a child. I reckon that’s one of the prettiest ways to explain it that I’ve ever heard” (25). Regardless of your age, do you agree with/relate to this quote? Do you have any other theories as to why early memories are easier to retrieve than more recent ones?2.tHow do you feel about the novel being written in dialect? Does it distract or add to the novel?3.tWhat do you think about the title of the book/ending lines? Do you think it fits the story? If not, what would you rename the book?
This is why readers read. It is why we slog through a sea of mediocre to good books. It is for the pure joy that comes from reading an exquisite book like this one, one that draws you in completely, one you can't put down, one where you savor every word and feel, as if it were your own, the joy and sorrow of those characters who inhabit the book.Open this book to any page and you will find writing that is pitch perfect in capturing the cadences and vocal patterns of the people it portrays, writing that is deeply rooted in a particular time and place, writing that you will want to let wash over you with its beauty, humor and pathos.Take, for example, the opening paragraph: "Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen."I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that this book is set in a part of the North Carolina mountains that I know and love and includes a healthy dose of the ballad singing that the early settlers brought over from the British Isles. But even if this book had been set in a place with which I was unfamiliar, I would have been completely won over by its lyric quality; its beautifully told story of love, loss, human frailty; its ability to capture what war (here the Civil War)does to those left behind and the non-combatants who have the misfortune to live in a war zone; its tribute to resilience; and its loving treatment of the culture of those in North Carolina's section of Appalachia.It did not surprise me to learn that the author was born in the area she describes; but being from a place does not guaranty the quality of writing and storytelling found here. As I reflect on it, the story Ms. Adams tells, has the feel (in tone and the depth of its narrative) of the very ballads that she builds this tale around. In fact, I can easily imagine the story Ms. Adams tells here in prose instead being put to song and passed from generation to generation in the a cappella rendering so much a part of the people of Madison County and of Sodom Laurel and Shelton Laurel in particular. I cannot say it strongly enough, give yourself a treat and read this book.
Do You like book My Old True Love (2004)?
“Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen.” This book was beautifully written in simple, vernacular language with feelings that brought me to tears many times. The narrator was both riveting and unique. The story was so full of music and beauty and sorrow that at times I didn't want to go on reading, but I couldn't help myself. This time period has always fascinated me and I cannot imagine the Civil Wartime Appalachia being rendered any better than it was in this novel. Doubly fascinating was the fact that the author comes from the same mountain and people she writes about, exploring family legends and traditional folk music passed down through the generations of her family. I was sorely disappointed that is Adams' only novel. If you liked the classic, Cold Mountain, I highly recommend this read!
—Kacey Gilpin
This book is beautiful. The characters are well drawn and I love the writing and the story. The very end is not perfect, so I'd probably give it 4.9 stars if I could. ;) However, it's still one of my all time favourite books and I'm not sure exactly what is wrong with the ending, but it was somehow unsatisfying.The setting of the novel is also interesting. It is set in the North Carolina mountains and the reader sees how irrelevant to most people the looming Civil War is. They are not slave holders (they are poor themselves, working hard to get by) and they feel far more loyalty to their mountains — and of course their families and local community — than they do to the abstract notion of the United States. And the Union side began the war with the goal of restoring the union, not fighting slavery.I love Appalachian folk music, so this novel was also a treat because of that theme that runs through it. I envy these people their music, dancing and close knit families and communities. (I can do without the poverty, back-breaking work and random disease though.)
—Zena Ryder
One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful books I have ever read. I would compare it to Cold Mountain- but perhaps even better! ( Never thought I would say that.) The descriptions of life in the 19th North Carolina mountains is worth the read alone ( I think Ms. Adams must be a time traveler and has deigned to visit us and tell this beautiful story.) but also the English, Irish and Scottish ballads that these characters are obsessed with are haunting and beautiful. A marvelous window into Antebellum mountain life.
—Sean Farmer
